Dr. Oz said there has been a rash of disturbing reports about the potentially life-threatening effects of Ambien, especially among women. “This could happen to you,” said Dr. Oz. “If you think it’s far-fetched, you could be dead-wrong. And I mean dead. Literally.”

His guest was Lindsey Schweigert, who had used Ambien for 10 years without incident. That all changed one night, when she took the popular sleeping pill before going to bed and woke up hours later in a police car.

Apparently Lindsey had hit another car while driving under the influence of Ambien. Shockingly, she had no recollection of getting into her car or driving at all.

“This could happen to you,” said Dr. Oz. “If you think it’s far-fetched, you could be dead-wrong. And I mean dead. Literally.”

Ironically, Ambien was hailed as a “miracle sleeping pill” when it first hit the market years ago because of its alleged lack of side effects. Since then, it has been responsible for a 200% spike in emergency-room visits.

Sleep expert Dr. Michael Breus, author of The Sleep Doctor’s Diet Plan, said women are more vulnerable than men to falling into a “zombie-like” state on Ambien because of their hormones.

He said Ambien can be safe if taken as directed, but you shouldn’t take it for more than three or four weeks.